Wow… Long Time

Hey everybody,

I just realized how long it has been since I last posted an update on here… almost a year. I am really sorry. Well I moved to El Paso in my last post and started working as an LVN on the 9th floor of William Beaumont Army Medical Center, which is a ICU step down unit dealing with mostly cardiac and medicine cases. I have a lot of fun up here and really enjoy both my co-workers and the type of patients that I deal with. The only bad thing is the chain of command; they sometimes use no common sense lol. The schedule is often mixed up, so they have to make changes to it almost every other day. However when they do change it, they never tell anybody, so unless you come in on you days off to look at it, you might not show up for work when the schedule says you are. Needless to say, I have been yelled at a couple of times until I tell them how friggin retarded they are for not telling me they changed the schedule. Then all they do is apologize lol. It is getting really old. However the good news is the two officers that are in charge of this are both leaving by march, so word! We also run out of supplies a lot and have to go hunting for them throughout the hospital. But Oh well, stuff like this happens everywhere you work. I just have to deal with it. As I learned in Basic Training, Drink Water, and drive on, Hooah!

Well I only have a little more than a year left in the army. I know that I said I was going to stay in when I lived up in Washington, but I realized once I got here that Ft. Sam Houston and Ft. Lewis are the two best duty stations in the army and it is unlikely I will stay there forever. I have decided to get out and live where I wanna live and go where I wanna go. I hate having this 250 mile radius bs and sometimes leave doesn’t get approved. It is just too many limitations of my freedom that I don’t want to have restricted for another 16-25 years of my life.

There were a couple of opportunities where the army asked me to stay and I almost took the bait. Lol. First I received an email from a recruiter at West Point. Apparently, the test that I took to get into the military that tells you what jobs you are qualified to enlist for, I scored really high on it. Every year, the Army asks 200 already enlisted soldiers if they want to go to Westpoint to get a bachelor’s degree and become an officer. However cool that may be, there are no medical degrees at Westpoint, so if I were to go there, the nursing license that I already have would go to waste for the next 8 years that I would have to sign up for, (4 years at school and 4 years required after that as an officer). It just wouldn’t be worth it. Another email that I got was from the special forces. This one wasn’t that big of a deal. Again it was because I had scored so high as the GT Test that they asked me to go through school and training to be a SF Medic. This would get me my paramedic’s license and also be really cool training to have, but there is just too many stressors on the special forces.

In the end, I have made up my mind on what I wanna do. For the next year, I am going to go to school at the El Paso Community College and take classes for pre-requisite courses. After I get out of the army next summer, in a year and 3 months, I have decided to move to College Station, TX, where Maria lives. There I can work at the St. Joseph’s hospital or the College Station Medical Center. I can also apply for the nursing program at A&M university where I can get my Bachelor’s in Nursing (RN) in two years. Plus I will live in the same city as Maria and only 1.5 hours from Mom, Dad and Steven.

I have enjoyed the military and it was good to me, but I am really looking forward to finally being a Civilian out on my own. I promise to keep this more updated from now on, but I gotta go do some laundry and clean, so TTYL for now.

Love ya,
Rob

The Big Move

Hey everybody…

I am really sorry I haven’t gotten to post in a long time.  I have been very busy, but now that I have had time to settle down and relax, I figured I would tell you all about what has been going on!

After we finished clinicals back in April, I started my internship in the PACU, which stands for the post anethesia care unit.  Basically, we would get patients straight out of the OR that were still doped up or in a lot of pain and what not.  I had a lot of fun working here and learned a ton.  Because some patients were put to sleep for surgery, there were some that couldn’t breath very well, so I got to through tubes down their noses all sorts of cool stuff.  We even had one guy who blew some sticthes on his abdomen and his intestines started to fall out… I wasn’t his nurse but you had better believe I ran over to watch!!

During that time I took the National Board Test to get my certificate for LVN.  This test was really long and extremely hard… I walked out sure that I had failed.  But I found out two days later that I had passed.  After that, it was party after party until graduation which took place on the 4th of May, 2009.  Then on the sixth, the day that my leave started before I had to go to my next duty station, my friend/neighbor from TX, Kelley Miller, her dad and I started driving for Texas.  She lives 5 houses down from us in Katy… go figure lol.  So we started driving down the coast, going on a long hike through the redwood national forest, visiting the piers in downtown San Franscisco and then cutting across to the grand canyon.  Her dad is still trying to get me a CD of pictures that we took along the way, but when I get it, I will send it to everyone.

Being at home was very nice, and I had a blast taking time off to spend with Steven, Mom, and Dad.  Maria even came down for a couple of days to visit too.  It was nice to have everyone together again.  On the 27th of May, I left houston and drove the 10 hour drive to the corner of Texas; El Paso.  It is a border city with the city of Juarez, Mexico and is pretty much desert.  The past couple of days have been extremely hot… close to 105!  I am assigned to the William Beaumont Army Medical Center here on Ft. Bliss in El Paso.  In the hospital, I work on 9 East, which is a cardiac floor.  However, I am sometimes rotated to 9 West, which is the pediatric ward, whenever they are understaffed.  I love my job so far and the people I work with are awesome.

As for the city itself, I have been having a blast here in El Paso.  I found a couple of small lakes that I have gone fishing in a couple of times.  There is also the Elephant Butte which is a 250 mile long lake on the colorado river that is only two hours away.  A boat is almost necessary to do any good fishing with, so I just hiked around up there and did some sight seeing.  The hospital is located at the bottom of the Franklin Mountains, which are more like big and steep hills lol, but there are a good workout to have when you want to go jogging or even Mt. Biking.  The people here in el Paso are extremely nice, and 90% are mexicans, so I have had a lot of practice with my spanish.

Next week, First Sergant asked me to be an OC at a Mass Casualty Training Exercise!! This is huge; I have to walk around and let people who outrank me by a lot, like Majors and Sergant First Classes and stuff, that they are doing this wrong or doing this right!  I am nervous as all get out but very excited 1st SGT chose me to help out.  Other things that are coming up that I am really excited about are the WLC (Warrior Leadership Course)  I leave for that on the 13th of July this year… in a couple of weeks.  I know, I thought it was soon too, but better do it now when I got the opportunity.  This is kind of like a Patrol Leader course used in the scouts, but it is how to take care of newer soldiers and give commands etc. while on the combat field.  This is a required course for me to make Sergant, so I am glad I get to go.  In either September or March this next fiscal year, I am going to go to the Emergency Field Medical Badge Course, which is a very difficult and very respected award to get in the Army… It is kind of like getting Eagle in the scouts, but the EFMB is for medics in the Army.  Another school I am going to go to starts sometime in October or November, I think.  It is the air assault school, where we train how to repel out of helicopters and down mountains… kind of like in black hawk down!  I’ll try not to miss the rope.  Lastly is the actual start of college classes.  I am enrolling in a community college out here in the fall, so I can knock my pre-requisites out of the way so in 2 years, when I have to re-enlist, I can re-enlist for a program that will send me to school for two years to get my Bachelors in Science for Nursing… Registered Nurse (RN) basically.

I have a lot of things coming up and I am really excited for them to start.  Hope everyone is doing well and I will post more often to let you know how I am doing.  If ya want to, call my cell at 281-881-0084 to catch up or just send me a comment and I will email you back.

Love all,

Rob

Check it out!

I added some pictures of a couple of us shredding the slopes up here in Northern Washington state.  Take a look!!!

Rob’s Newest Post

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone is doing good and in safe health.  As for myself, I am doing alright.  I am getting pretty tired and I really want to start working.  I will start off with school, move into PT, and then go onto adventures just so I cover all the bases.

I just started the pediatric rotation in the hospital.  On this floor, there are only 5-10 patients at a time, so it is pretty slow, but it’s alright.  In a way, I don’t like it because it is very sad to see some of the children in such bad shape.  There’s a 13 year old kid that is going through chemotherapy for a disease that has only 100 diagnosed in the U.S. it is that rare.  It’s pretty hard, but just seeing how cheerful most of them are brings your spirits right back up.  This is my last rotation out of five, so I am almost outta here!  My favorite clinical rotation has been the ICU, which is a very hard working environment, but it is also best for learning.  Plus, you get to workon the ocassional code blue LOL!  That is so wrong for me to say that, but it is the greatest feeling when you can say I helped save someones life today.  I hope to do my 3 week long internship in there, but we’ll have to see where the instructors want to put me.  I have had a couple of RN’s ask for me to be there interns and put in a good word for me, but it is ultimately up to instructors on where I go.

Every morning, before I go to the hospital, I always go to the gym at 0500 and work out for an hour.  I had gained some weight over christmas, but since I weighed myself in February, I have lost 7 pounds!  I take a PT test on Friday this week, so hopefully I will get a high enough score to get a waiver and be promoted to Specialist!  The last PT test was valentines day, but I had sprained my ankle to weekend before skiing at Crystal Mountain, so I didn’t do that great.  O well, I will get it this time.  Company PT in the afternoon has been terrible, but it is what it is.  Our chain of Command says that they want to change it up, so we do some fun different stuff, but we had a couple of stupid junors break some bones at the gym while we played basketball, so we can’t go to the gym anymore.  It seems like all we do is run and boy do we run!  On Friday, we ran 5.7 miles in an hour! and then on the schedule for PT on monday is another four mile run.  I don’t mind running, but an occasional ab or upper body work out would be great.  Whatever.

On February 5th, I got new orders on where I am going after I graduate this course.  I am going on a one year, possibly two tour of Korea baby… hells yeah.  I am so psyched.  As many of you know, I have never been outside of the U.S. other than Canada, so it will be a great friggin adventure.  I leave from here on the 6th of May and have about three weeks off and then I leave on the 25th of may; I don’t have to report until the 29th, but I want to go over early and report so I can in process and actually start working on the 29th.  I got an email a couple of weeks ago saying which company I am in… supposedly I am going to 557 Military Police CO.  I am not sure what I am going to be doing there, but I could be potentially working on a detainment unit (a jail for people who try to go AWOL overseas) or working as a medic in the field.  I am not sure, but I have been talking to them more and more and hopefully will know here soon.  Either way, I am stoked to go!

In between May 6th and the 29th I have a couple of weeks of leave, so me and my best friend/neighbor, Kelley Miller are driving back to Texas together and stopping at a couple of cool places along the way, like the Grand Canyon and Cali and stuff.  It should be pretty fun times.  Until then, I have a couple of mud pit that me and the guys like to go to in the trucks and also a couple of rivers and lakes to fish in.  The salmon run starts up here in a week or two, so I will let you guys know how it goes.  Recently, I have just been mudding in the truck, fishing hasn’t been great, so I haven’t been going… too cold.  Other than that, I have just been chilling.

I will talk to yall soon.  Take care and I wish you the best.  Send me a message now and again just to let me know how everything is going.  Later!

Rob

Robert’s B-day post

Hey ya’ll.  I am at a superbowl party right now and the pre-game show kinda stinks, so I am going to add it while I’m free.

The last time I posted was back in October, so since then, I finished classes on the senor side.  My final G.P.A. was an 88.5% and we finished classes right before christmas leave.  I left WA on Dec 20th and went on an 9 day vacation to Houston, TX to spend christmas with the family.  It was a wonderful, but short vacation.  I started driving the truck, which was completely fixed by the way, back on the 29th and made it all the way from Houston to Tacoma, WA in 2 days and 6 hours.  I was flying.  I relaxed for the couple of days I had off and then finally started the senor side of clinicals on Monday, the 6th of January

I started the telemetry and heart monitoring floor, which is where we monitor patients with heart problems or those that just went through a serious heart surgery.  It was pretty boring and I was glad to leave.  Now I am working on the OB/GYN floor.  It is amazing! Last friday, I saw my first vaginal delivery.  I assisted in the delivery of a 8lb 2 oz baby girl where I did everything but catch her and cut the cord.  I got to give the baby medications, see everything when the baby came out, help cath the placenta.  It was intense.  I also had to go the STD clinic to work for a day and that was interesting but I’m not going to talk about it lol.

On the weekends, we’ve been going up to Mt. Rainier and some of the other cascades and doing some serious skiing!!  I am the only skier in our class, but there’s a couple of snowboarders.  All the other’s are just beginning, but it is very fun to go on the weekends.  Out west, they got some pretty wicked mountains and there’s 6 or 7 resorts within a 2 hour drive of us!

I have lost another 5 pounds since the last time I weighed myself, but I am trying to get down to 190 by the time I graduate in may.

I am going to head out right now, but I just wanted to give you an update on where I am at when it comes to class and clinicals and everything.  I hope everyone is doing well and everyone here thanks you for your support.  Have a good superbowl sunday and we’ll catch you on the flip side.  Peace

Rob

Robert’s Continuation

Hey,

Alright, back to the story I started a little while ago.  I started the second phase of Nursing School with orders to Fort Lewis, Washington.  I had about a week and a half to get my car up here, so I started driving the 27th of may.  However, when I was in Colorado, I got in a car accident with my brand new truck, a Ford Explorer Sport Trec.  Luckily I was only a couple of minutes from a friend I went through Medic School with, so I gave her a call and she let me stay at her place until I got everything sorted out.  After four days, I shipped my truck from Colorado back to the parents in Houston, TX and rented a car to continue my trip.  I arrived the 4th of June and began school almost right away.

We had three months of nothing but straight classes, which kind of sucked, but the instructors were really cool and made it a little bit better to pay attention in class.  We learned about all of the different body systems, different medications that we can administer and a lot of other stuff.  I got pretty good scores and did well in all of the extra stuff our class was in.  For example, we had 12 of us drive to Seattle (about 30 minutes North) to a Seattle Mariners baseball game.  There, we worked a concession stand, selling beer, popcorn, pizza, etc.  That was a lot of fun and I even managed to sneak in a couple drinks behind my Sergeant’s back (don’t tell her though! 😉 )

Starting in late August, we began clinicals with a first rotation at the VA (veterans affairs) Nursing Home.  It was a lot of work, taking care of the elderly because the majority of them were so old, they couldn’t do anything for themselves.  My favorite was Mr. Hornick who was a 75 year old Vietnam Vet who was nearly deaf and blind in his left eye.  Myself and Kelley Miller, one my good friends from the course were taking care of him and he was complaining of chest pain whenever Miller was around.  He was a big flirt with Miller and liked to joke around with me about her.  We had a lot fun this rotation, even though we did have to wipe a lot of butts.

We then actually started going into the hospital, working on the Med Surg floors, taking care of patients that just got out of surgery.  This was an excellent experience, as I saw everything from Chest Tubes, to amputations, to wound vacuums, to tube feedings, to colostomies, to catheters and so on and so on.  We saw such a variety of patients that my squad (9 of us) got the best experiences yet in the course.  My favorite patient here was a 23 year old private (so I out ranked him!!) that rolled a stryker, which is a huge tank on wheels.  He was ejected and the tank rolled over him, so he had some very severe crushing injuries.  Because he was a private, I got to try a bunch of stuff on him, like IV’s and joked around with him.  We had a good time together and I helped nurse him back to good health and when I left the rotation, he was being discharged to go home.

This past week, we have stopped clinicals and begun a whole new set of advanced classes, beginning with the OB/GYN classes, discussing pregnant mothers and neonatal nursing care.  After Christmas, clinicals will begin again, and we are starting the specialized rotations, such as the cardiology clinic, OB/GYN (where we have to assist in giving birth to a child), the ICU (intensive care unit), the OR, the ER and etc.  I can’t wait for those to begin, because the trauma and ICU is the main care that I have wanted to provide.

PT has been going pretty good.  I do the company’s PT every Mon, Wed, and Fri, but that just isn’t enough to get me in the shape that I want to be in.  So a buddy of mine named Staeb and me run 3+ miles everyday, and then go to the gym after dinner for about two hours.  I have been getting stronger and faster on my run… I actually maxed my bench the other day at 270 pounds.  I am trying to get it over 300 and drop 20 pounds by christmas exodus.  That way, when I go home and visit all the georgous women I know in TX, I will be looking good!

Other than that, I have been taking it easy and relaxing when I can.  I just finished paying off my truck’s damage bills and also bought a plane ticket home for Xmas, so I don’t have a lot of money to boot on anything.  I did buy a halloween costume that is friggin’ amazing but due to confidentiality reasons, I can’t tell you what I am going to be.  I will definately post pictures after halloween and post them up though!! Thanks again for listening and all of the soldiers here appreciate your support.  I hope to hear from ya’ll sometime but if not, good luck with everything you all are doing and take care of yourselves.

Lots of Love and Friendship,

PFC Robert Pate

Robert’s Much Needed Post

Hey everybody,

I am terribly sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while.  I have been extremely busy most of the time and when I am no busy, I am focused on resting or fishing lol.  Anyways, since the last post back in February, a lot has happened.  I will start with the end of whiskey school.

I went through the 7 day field training exercise in early march.  The first couple of days, we went to the ranges and shot M16’s and got oriented to the FOB (forward operating base).  The third day, we did a patrol starting at 0400 going for 4 miles.  We had two different run-ins with the enemies and had to take care of 5 different patients, carry them up a very steep hill for 200 yds, put them on a stretcher and take them back to the FOB, then that afternoon, after chow, we had to do MOUT Training (military training in a civilian quadrant).  Here we busted into buildings, breaking down doors, killing the enemy and caring for any wounded prisoners they had housed with them.  That was by far the coolest day of training ever.  Another cool day came two days later where we worked in Battalion Aid Station.  Basically, it is MASH all over again where we got to play the role of the medic bringing the patient in, the nurses, the doctors and the surgeons.  The interesting thing with that was we got gased while this happened, so we had to put on our gas masks, close the doors to the tents and seal everything off.  Then our power got cut, so we had to perform all care with flashlights.  The two beds that I was in charge of were most proficient, getting 6 out of the ten patients through before the MEDEVAC helicopter came.  It was a lot of fun and wonderful training all at the same time.  Once FTX was over, we went back to Charlie Company, cleaned the barracks for a few days, obtained orders, graduated and moved out to our next duty station.

Lucky for me, I was the last of the enlisting soldiers to get the M6 Nursing School Option.  I was sent about 2 miles up the hill on Ft. Sam Houston to C-company 264th medical battalion for the first phase of nursing school.  It was about 8 weeks of straight classroom work…basically the worst time in the military I’ve had yet.  Once I graduated that school, I was given orders to Ft. Lewis, WA.

That is where I am currently stationed since June 3rd.  This is the second phase of M6 training out of three total.  The first 3 weeks up here was straight classwork again, but it is more interesting because we began to incorporate clinical rotations on the floor.  The first rotation was a five day rotation at the Veteran’s Nursing Home.  This was an introduction to clinicals so the main care we gave was showers, toileting, walking, and games.  We then went to the seventh floor of the hospital, which is where patients getting out of surgery go.  We are finally allowed to administer medications with the instructors present, we put in and pull out IV’s and foleys (both you’re not allowed to do in the civilian world), we draw blood and provide for the patients care.  We still have tests every couple of weeks, our last one being last friday.  It was the psychology unit about schitzofrenia, suicide, bipolar disorder, etc.  I got a 94%

I am tired cause it is 2300 (11 o’clock pm) and I have to get up at 0430, so I will finish this note tomorrow.  I love you all and appreciate you reading.  I am terribly sorry for not writing and I promise to keep you updated more efficiently.  Good night and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.

Sincerely,

PFC Pate, Robert

United States Military

Robert’s Third Post

Hey everybody,

I hope everyone is doing well on this fine Sunday. Today is the 17th of February, 2008 and a lot has happened since the last time I gave a post on here. We have almost finished training, we took our record PT test, I’ve had fun out on the town, gotten my orders for what I am doing and where I am going when I’m done with training, gotten some new ideas on how I can advance my rank to officer!! These past 2 weeks has been very interesting!!

We have four weeks of training left until graduation on March 14th. We just completed our validation, which is a hands on training test where we have to complete 10 random tasks, such as an Emergency Cricothyroidotomy (cutting a whole in the throat to put in a breathing tube), Tourniquets, Interosseous Infusions (iv’s in the bone!), Combitubes (inserting an oral airway), and some other random stuff. Those aren’t the hard part though! The difficult part is that these tasks are supposed to be in a combat situation with bullets and stress and stuff, so while performing these tasks, the SGT’s and instructors were yelling in our hears and throwing stuff at us. It was funny but very hard. Each task had to be performed by a certain standard and it was actually quite simple; I passed all 10 with 100% on all of them. Next, we’ve got STX (Situation Training Exercises) which is the same thing as validation, except we do it outside, with all of our gear (helmet, M-16, Load Bearing Vest, etc) and there are a lot more things we have to do. For example, in validation, we had to do a needle chest decompression for a bullet wound to the chest. However, in STX we will have to do that, and stop an arterial bleed to the femoral artery and fix a shrapnel wound in the back! This will be over the next week and a half and after that, we have FTX (field training excercise) where we sleep in the field at Camp Bullis and do the same stuff. Then we graduate on March 14th and it’s off to the next place.

I found out this past week, my next scheduled place of duty begins on June 6th!! On March 28th, I begin M6 (nursing training) and I graduate phase I on May 23rd. I then go to Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington! for phase II (clinicals). I then graduate on May 19th in 2009 from school. I have volunteered for a two year tour of korea for extra dollars a month, but if I don’t get that (which is likely), I also requested DC, TX, Colorado, Alaska, Germany, and Italy, so we’ll see where the Army will put me. Wherever I go, I definately want to go officer.

That’s another thing that I did this week! I found out about the PA program (Physician’s Assistant). I am definately interested in everything about it, and it will be a very difficult journey. Captain Williams (the PA that is in charge of our training) told us a lot about it. After the pre-requisites are accomplished (M6 can help with them), we come back to Fort Sam Houston for a whole year to train. We would be considered prior service, which gives us the ability to live off post, have cars and basically, complete freedom! Once training has begun, we would be automatically be promoted to an E-5 SGT. The first year is a lot of class work, but once we are done, we are promoted to a Second Lieutenant, which is the first rank of officer status. After that, we can be shipped to our duty station and the next year of school is all clinicals. Once the 2 year PA training program is complete, we are promoted to a First Lieutenant and 6 months later, we are captain promotable. Because the PA program in the civilian world is paying so well, the army is paying $BIG bonuses a year!!!! Another benefit of being a PA is since there are so few of them in the army, the army ships them into the field all the time. M6’s are almost always in hospitals, psych wards, and even nursing homes. I don’t want to be in a psych ward and being sent to the field would be awesome! The PA program would be very cool to get into, even if it is so difficult.

I hope everything is going good for everyone at home! My M6 training doesn’t start for two weeks after I graduate Combat Medic School, so I might be getting some time off here in the near future to come home and visit!! Looking forward to hearing from you and I wish you the best for those of you in school still, cause the end is almost near. Take care ya’ll and I will talk to you later.

Sincerely,
PV2 Rob Pate

Robert’s Second Post

I hope everyone is doing well,

As for me I am doing fine. A little tired yet again, but still kicking and doing well. The past few weeks have been really busy since I’ve gotten back, but I am still hanging here and doing well.

The day we got back, they gave us the day off to recoup from the two week long vacation (doesn’t make any sense, I know!!!) but it was appreciated. The next day however, we jumped right back in and began reviewing for the National Registry Test for EMT-Basic (a very difficult test to nationally certify me as an Emergency Medical Technician). On Monday and Tuesday of the next week, we started the All-Skills Tests, which are a series of hands-on tests that are pretty difficult. I passed all 6 with 100% on everyone of them!!!! Wednesday, we took another Physical Training Test and I passed again! Then on Thursday, the big day came and I ended up passing the National Registry, so I am now nationally certified as an EMT Basic…That doesn’t mean I’m gunna save your life though ;)…I am just kidding. I probably would.

After that, we took a week of class that basically taught us how to apply everything that we learned in the Basic course and apply it to the military life. Friday, two days ago, we took our last written test and I passed with an 86%!! Overall I got an 84.3% in the class and was 11th in the rankings!

Beginning on Tuesday (we get Monday off for MLK day), we begin Whiskey training which will help us apply everything we’ve learned into a field situation. This is when we learn how to give an IV while dodging bullets!!! (very exciting stuff!) I can’t wait to get out into the field and out of the classroom cause classes sucked.

Class and Training is going good but something I found out last week totally blew me out of the water!! I found out that once I graduate from Medic Training, I am going to go to M6 (nursing) school. The cool part is I stay here until May 29th and then I go to Fort Lewis in Seattle, WA!!! for 44 weeks to finish my clinicals. After that I don’t know where I going but until April of 2009, that’s where I know I am going to be which is pretty sweet.

One last thing before I leave that I have done lately that is pretty cool, is I got a tattoo!!!!! Mom thought it was pretty cool but there is a picture on this post so take a look and leave me some comments. And just for everyone’s information, I was completely sober when I got it!!

That’s all for now but I will be back soon to write again. Thanks for listening and I really appreciate everyone’s prayers and support. God Bless you all and God bless the United States.

Sincerely,
PV2, Robert Pate

Robert’s Update of his Blog on January 1st, 2008

Hello everyone and a very merry christmas to all,

This is actually Robert talking because I am now on my 2 weeks leave for Christmas Exodus.  This break feels amazing because of the very little freedom we get when we are at Fort Sam Houston.

As for school, things are going very well, even though it is so hard.  We finished the last of the 37 chapters in our book on the 14th of December.  The very next day (Friday) we had a test over 7 chapters consisting of Ambulance operations, pediatric (children) emergencies, geriatic (elederly) emergencies, and giving birth in the field.  That was an interesting chapter.  Then immediately after the weekend, we had one day of review and then took our final exam.  I got an 83% and received a 85.6% in the class overall.  Because it was so difficult, with a lot of information in a very short period of time, that was considered a good grade.  I actually was 9th in the class out of 54 and 24th in the company of 476 soldiers.  I am glad the learning part is all over.

However, when I go back on January 2nd, we have one day to unpack and study and then the very next day, we begin All-Skills testing.  All-Skills is a very intense hands-on test that questions our ability in the field.  One minor mistake, like not putting gloves on, and we fail.  We have been practicing here and there and I have studied over Exodus, so I think I will do prety good.  The next week after that, on January 10th, we are taking the National Registry for Emergency Medical Technician-Basic Test (NREMT).  If I pass this test, I will be nationally certified as an EMT-Basic and all in 2 months work!!!!!

Along with shool, we also do PT (Physical Training) everyday, starting at 4:30 in the morning.  When I got out of Basic Training, I weighed 192 pounds.  I weighed myself two days before I left for Christmas Leave and I have lost another 10 pounds.  On Monday, December 17th, I had another PT Test and passed everything and cut another minute off my 2 mile run!!!

Training and the army life is good and all was well, but this break that is just about over felt awesome. I got to spend Christmas with my family and we had a very good time, playing games, watching movies and hanging out. Me and Steven also went on the Winter Campout together with the Boy Scouts and had a blast. Steven got a partial for Personal Management and Personal Fitness and completed his Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. I taught the fishing merit badge to a couple different classes and was one of the adults for our Troop. It was good to see some of the guys and go on what might be my last campout for a long time.

Overall this Exodus was very nice, but because I go back tomorrow, I need to start packing everything up and drinking the last couple of beers, so my dad doesn’t have to do it all on his own 😉 I hope everyone had a blessed holiday and I wish the best New Year in 2008 to all of you. Thats all for right now, but I will keep you posted as much as I can, now that I know how to post these, I can go to the library and post these. Talk to ya’ll later, be safe and keep it real.

Sincerely,
PV2 Pate, Robert
United States Army
C-Co 232 Medical Battalion